To be fair, the shaved head thing was because they had just had a bald captain. But yes, the beard was to keep him from looking too “scary black man”.

“Yes, I said “man”; it’s just a pronoun; stop being so afraid of it.”

No, it’s a noun. Why are you afraid of “No one”? 

“They threw a stink over a black “captain” who wasn’t even a captain for reasons that have never been fully explained.”

Because he wasn’t in command of a starship. Most station commanders held the rank of commander on TNG.

There’s a very good article by Natalie Reed called “Ace Ventura: Het Perspective” about a trans reading of Ace Ventura, and what a horrible bigoted movie it is, the nonetheless admits that even a negative portrayal in media can be empowering when it’s the only portrayal available. People bring their own perspectives…

“Our planet is placed in the perfect spot”? That’s idiotic. All of your stuff is. It’s like looking at a glass of water and saying “See how the water is the same shape as the glass? That’s how you know the glass was made for that water.” Other way around, dude. We fit in this world because we evolved into it, not…